Smashing Pumpkins Ready To Start “Unloading The Archives”

Smashing Pumpkins have revealed they have “hundreds” of finished songs ready to release in their archives. Frontman Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin appeared on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show on Apple Music on 17 September. During the conversation, Corgan revealed the band have a wealth of completed music they’ve been sitting on.

“And now that I’m really excited by the re-rise of the vinyl record shop and the fact that there is there is this beautiful balance now between vinyl releases and streaming services, we’re going to just start unloading the archives and we have archives for decades,” he said.

When Lowe enquired how much previously unheard material they had, Corgan replied: “You can’t even imagine.”

Chamberlin added: “Hundreds of songs.” Asked what state the songs were in, he confirmed they were all “finished.”

“It’s insane how much work there is,” Corgan continued. “There’s so much work. We could literally never record another song and have a release every two months for the next 20 years. Easy. There’s alternate versions, there’s live versions, there’s acoustic versions. So we’re going to actually kill people with content.”

Last week, the iconic alt-rockersconfirmed the upcoming release of the first album to feature Corgan, Iha, and Chamberlin in 18 years. The trio last appeared on a record together on 2000’s Machina. Due for release on 18 November, the new album, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun will feature ‘Solara’, the track the band released earlier this summer. The new songs were recorded with producer Rick Rubin earlier this year.

“I would say this is the happiest time of the band,” Corgan said earlier this year. “It’s a bit akin to trying to rekindle a romance almost two decades later. The love is there, but, you know, is the language? Is the magic there?” He added that new music “just poured out” and result was material that “picks up where this unit left off.”

The Smashing Pumpkins recently completed their 30th anniversary tour. Their upcoming schedule includes appearances in the U.K. and Italy, with another anniversary celebration at the Aragon Ballroom in their hometown of Chicago on 30 November.

Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun will feature the following tracks: